Peter Costello
Peter Costello is a Member of Parliament and of the Independent Advisory Board to the World Bank. He has written a best selling account of his time as Treasurer which is now published in paperback. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Tanya and three children.
MPs awaken to the power of one
Peter Costello The country independents - Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor - are not accidental tourists who have wandered on to the political stage.
Latham mirrors Labor's malaise
Peter Costello The ALP base is drifting away because it does not see this as a successful government.
Don't blame Latham for highlighting home truths
Peter Costello In a dull campaign, Mark Latham's report on 60 Minutes was one of the more interesting. I know the media canned it. Before it aired, Laurie Oakes told us Latham had "crossed a line".
Convictions muddied in the middle
Peter Costello The reason Kevin Rudd looms large in this campaign is Julia Gillard wants to make herself a small target. Gillard has been Prime Minister for seven weeks.
Charter of honesty is only half the test
Peter Costello In the old days leaders promised big during election campaigns (''by 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty'') and cut back their spending afterwards.
Rudd the one-man band was out of tune
Peter Costello In a moment of defiance the night before he lost his job, Kevin Rudd declared: "I was elected by the people of Australia to do a job.
If it's tax reform you want, try the GST
Peter Costello Next week marks the 10th anniversary of the GST. Along with income and company tax, the GST now anchors the Australian taxation system.
It's not just the tax that's wrong, but the process
Peter Costello Kevin Rudd needs to get out from under his 40 per cent tax on the mining industry. He can't just repeat slogans about how fair it is - he's lost that argument.
More facts would help Geldof see the truth
Peter Costello During his recent whistle-stop tour of Australia, Sir Bob Geldof described Australia's treatment of Aborigines as ''absurd'' and ''economically stupid''.
Swan's balancing act won't add up
Peter Costello The budget focus on beating mythical surplus schedules hides an inconvenient truth.
Futuristic budget is devoid of reality
Peter Costello It was a strange budget speech. It was all about the financial year of 2012-13 - three years away. That year is a happy year when the budget will balance for the first time in five years, and the...
The boom time and the bottom line
Peter Costello Australia is in the midst of the greatest mining boom since the Gold Rush. This time it is black gold - coal - and rust-coloured iron ore.
Mining boom riches nullified by Labor's spending bender
Peter Costello Bigger than the gold rush, but taxpayers have little to show for it.
Exit Turnbull from a political stage littered with underachievers
Peter Costello Malcolm Turnbull made the right call when he decided to retire. All through the election campaign he would have been pestered about Labor's emissions trading scheme.
The greatest moral conundrum of our time … until the next one
Peter Costello Last year, we were told, the most important issue for the country - for the planet - was greenhouse gas emissions. This meant the Senate had to pass the government's carbon pollution reduction scheme.
Was the climate change challenge a lot of hot political air?
Peter Costello Cynical manipulation of the issue undermines the public's trust.
Leaders jostle in the race to rock bottom
Peter Costello It is hard to decide whose idea was worse. First there was Kevin Rudd, who announced he wants 30 per cent of the states' GST so he can "fix" the hospital system.
Rudd, Abbott in wacky race to the bottom of the tax barrel
Peter Costello It doesn't matter whose policy's bigger than whose when both are bad.
Federal-run health another batty idea
Peter Costello The death of four young men and insulation fires in 94 houses have focused attention on the competence of Peter Garrett to be a federal minister.
The streets of Conroy are paved with gold
Peter Costello You've got to look at it from Senator Stephen Conroy's perspective. The fact Mike Kaiser had been involved in branch stacking is not a matter of shame. He was working on behalf of the Right faction.
